Day 159. January 12, 2014. Crawfish, Boudin, and Cajun Dancing

We are at Lake Fausse Point State Park about 150 miles SW of New Orleans.  Most of the other campers here are hunters and fishermen.  They all wear their camo clothes.  All super friendly.  Our neighbors caught a big catfish in the river right in front of our Airstream this AM, and gave us some, breaded and deep-fat fried.  We are not that fond of catfish, but of course, acted happy to get it.

They also recommended a lunch place.  We are pretty remote, so it took a while to get there, driving along the levee.  It was actually a grocery store/food bar.  They sell boudin (pronounced boo-dan) which is super popular.  It is a kind of sausage, with several varieties.  We bought some  crawfish boudin which we will grill one night.  For lunch, we split a crawfish étouffée.  The counterman was concerned that it wouldn't be enough for 2 people.  Ha!  It was a ton of food, served on styrofoam plates and sporks.....not fancy at all, but good and cheap!

Then we drove to Breaux Bridge, the crawfish capital of the world.  It is a cute town.  Each store front is decorated for Mardi Gras, coming up in February.  There are also Mardi Gras stores to buy costumes, decorations.

Then, the most wonderful thing happened.  We were glancing through their free newspaper and read that there was a Cajun dance in the PM.  So, we went to this dance hall called La Pouisserie, which is "Dusty" in French.  The dance hall has been around for about 60 years.  When it first opened, the hardwood floors sat atop dirt, so when the dancers started dancing, it got really dusty.  The band was called Ivy Dugas and the Cajun Cousins.  There were about 100 folks there, mostly middle-aged, dancing every dance.  Most of the dances were a type of 2-step in which the couples circle around the dance floor.  The band included an accordion, fiddle, drums, electric piano, and guitar.  Some of the songs were in English; most  in Cajun.  It was a neat experience.  

We came back to the campground and made a fire, watching our armadillo friend

We warmed up the catfish (and fried cheese balls) our neighbors had given us.  They were quite good!